Presence technology allows users to publish their availability for network interaction. Currently, applications only consolidate presence information within a single application instance. For example, instant messaging applications keep track of a user's presence solely as it relates to that application. If the user sets his presence status to “not present” within the instant messaging application, that information will not be shared with any other presence-enabled applications. As more presence-enabled applications allow group interaction and collaboration, a user may desire to selectively publish his overall system presence information or his presence within a particular application instance. Furthermore, applications allowing collaboration among networked users may use application presence information to enable cooperative features.